Lonely In a Fundamental Way

Little rabbits cooking barbecue in the desert
Little rabbits removing their headwraps at TSA
Little rabbits who prefer modeling in sunglasses
Little rabbits bopping to the store for condoms
Little rabbits smoking Benson & Hedges Lights
Little rabbits assembling a brand new bookshelf
Little rabbits shelling out cash for a wristwatch
Little rabbits shaking out their boots for scorpions
Little rabbits filling out passport applications
Little rabbits who side eye the moon landing
Little rabbits who appreciate a good utility knife
Little rabbits praying to Black Mary of Czestochowa
Little rabbits tussling with the wrong locker combination
Little rabbits who relax their hair in a locked bathroom
Little rabbits hiking in dormant volcano landscapes
Little rabbits that crack their gum when the bell rings
Little rabbits who snarl back when you least expect it

Nikki Wallschlaeger’s work has been featured or is forthcoming in The Brooklyn Rail, LIT, jubilat, Apogee, Georgia Review, Denver Quarterly, Spoon River Review and others. She is the author of the full-length collection Houses (Horseless Press 2015) as well as the graphic chapbook I Hate Telling You How I Really Feel from Bloof Books (2016). Her second full length book of poetry, Crawlspace, is forthcoming from Bloof Books in May 2017. She was also an editor for Bettering American Poetry Anthology 2015, a project promoting the work of marginalized writers. She lives in Wisconsin.